C2C Blog

B-A-R Dance is a new company co-directed by our very own Elizabeth Powers along side Michelle Boilard, Cayley Dorr and Erin Saunders. We can't wait to see what they've been working on as part of Uplift! Get your tickets for Saturday's show today and you can catch Monkeyhouse hosting the post show conversation, too!

Nicole Harris: What will you be doing for Uplift?BAR: B-A-R is founded on the idea that dance is fun and bodies are rad. We are passionate about using the power of movement to incite radical joy and transcend socialized and politicized boundaries.We believe in the power of using movement to instill a positive environment in which all bodies can thrive. Through this performance experience, we can continue to fulfill our commitment to creating work that is both accessible and challenging.

N: B-A-R Dance is new to the community and is directed by 4 choreographers. How do you know each other? How do you work together? Sharing direction under so many people can be challenging. What is the division of work between you?BAR: The four of us met while we were all studying Dance and Performance Studies at Roger Williams University. After working together and becoming so close in college, we knew that we shared similar artistic and personal values, as well as a common vision for what dance can and should be and do. B-A-R was born out of our desire to contribute something new and deeply personal to us to the Boston/ New England dance community. We all have different strengths, from community outreach to education to arts management to social media prowess, so we find that our individual work complements our work together quite naturally. Yes, working with four different voices at the table can be challenging, but we came together to form a company with a deep commitment to our friendship first. We dance together because we love each other and value one another as humans. We know that movement brings us together, and cannot drive us apart.

N: Who are your mentors past and present?BAR: We each have our own personal mentors but we are all extremely lucky to also share the same mentors from Roger Williams University. While we were studying, we were taught and mentored by Gary Shore, France Hunter, Cathy Nicoli, Michael Bolger, and Michael DeQuattro. Being a part of such a small program allowed us to be vulnerable and create close relationships with all of our professors and accompanists. We strongly feel that our time at RWU and these important connections with our mentors greatly influenced our decision to pursue our goals and form B-A-R.

N: Aside from the amazing people in this festival who are some of your favorite local choreographers?BAR: In the Boston dance community, there are so many amazing choreographers/dancers we look up to and we feel so lucky to be included. To name two, we owe so much to Kenzie Finn of Project31 and Lacey Sasso of Sasso and Company. Both of these strong women run dance companies that we admire and look up to. They have also given us opportunities to dance and perform in their shows, which we are extremely grateful for. We strive to be as calm and collected as they are when they are producing their own shows, while pushing their limits to create innovative and challenging works. If you have the chance to see their companies perform, do it. You will not be disappointed!

The biggest thanks goes to OnStage Dance Company for providing such an incredible opportunity to our community. Monkeyhouse Loves You!

Photo by Olivia Blaisdell

Conglomerate (2018) *Choreographed by Elizabeth Powers in collaboration with the dancersPerformed by Elyssa Berg, Sarah Feinberg, Nicole Harris, Caleb Howe, Samantha Mullen, and Olivia ScharffMusic by Kourosh DiniThis piece was created as a part of Monkeyhouse’s Choreography Mentorship Program and was originally presented at NACHMO Boston 2018. So many thanks to Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris for their mentorship throughout this process. Thank you to Jason Ries for mentorship in lighting and design. Special thanks to each of the performers for all of their input and trying the same prompt so many times while never producing the same outcome and to Karen Krolak for being at each rehearsal and always asking the right questions.

Ricochet (premiere)Choreographed by Sarah Feinberg in collaboration with Elizabeth PowersPerformed by Sarah Feinberg and Elizabeth PowersMusic by PsycliqThank you to Monkeyhouse for providing me this opportunity to create and perform. Thank you to Karen Krolak for the mentorship you have provided throughout this choreographic process but also throughout my life. Thank you to Nicole Harris for inspiring me with your movement and creative choices during Musings. Thank you to Jason Ries for asking questions and challenging me to think about my work in new ways. Thank you to Elizabeth Powers for being a wonderful dance partner and for everything you have contributed to the choreographic process both in Musings and rehearsals.

Ukiyo (premiere)Choreographed by Nicole HarrisPerformed by Sarah Friswell Cotton, Olivia Scharff, Nicole HarrisCostumes by Nicole HarrisSpecial Thanks to Kelsey Griffith, Impulse Dance CenterUkiyo (Japanese) - the “floating world”; a place of fleeting beauty and living in the moment, detached from the bothers of life.

Connexa (2013)Choreographed by Sarah Feinberg and Nikki Sao Pedro-WelchPerformed by Olivia Scharff and Samantha Mullen Music by Drop TrioThank you to Monkeyhouse for the opportunity share this piece again. Thank you to Olivia Scharff and Samantha Mullen for taking this piece on with such energy and enthusiasm. It’s been a blast working on it with you two!

4 things (2018)Choreographed by Elizabeth Powers in collaboration with the dancersPerformed by Michelle Boilard, Michela Doherty, Sarah Feinberg, and Elizabeth PowersMusic by MystifiedCostumes by Elizabeth Powers

This piece was created as part of the OnStage Dance Company Residency Program in the Spring of 2018. Thank you to Jennifer Kuhnberg for organizing OnStage Dance Company’s Residency Program and providing the space for this work to be created. Thank you to Karen Krolak for her always wise words of wisdom during this process.

[82] (premiere)Choreographed by Karen Krolak in collaboration with Olivia ScarffPerformed by Olivia Scharff Sound Design by Karen KrolakSpecial Thanks to Chris Lanier and to Olivia for being brave enough to take on this solo.www.DictionaryofNegativeSpace.com

Photo by Sarah Friswell Cotton

Photo by Sarah Friswell Cotton

Irradiance; In Three Parts (premiere) *Choreographed by Elyssa BergPerformed by Sarah Feinberg, Nicole Harris, Caleb Howe, Elizabeth Powers Music by Daniel Birch, Kevin MacLeod, and Mathieu Lamontagne and Emmanuel ToledoThank you to Monkeyhouse for the opportunity to create work and share the space with so many talented and supportive artists. Thank you to all of the artists who participated in musings to bring inspiration and insight into the direction of the work. And lastly, a special thank you to Nicole Harris, Karen Krolak, and Jason Reis for their guidance and support of working in new ways with new resources while growing as an artist.

Voetstoots (premiere)Choreographed and Performed by Caleb Howe and Nicole Harris Music by Francois CoutureSound Design by Nicole HarrisUmbrella Design by Karen Krolak Special Thanks to Karen Krolak and Peter-John de KockVoetstoots (Afrikaans) - refers to something, usually sold, with all its faults and without guarantees - “As is”

Next up, Choreography Mentee, Elizabeth Powers! You saw the piece she created as part of the Choreography Mentorship Program at NACHMO Boston in January. You'll have the chance to see it again on stage tomorrow. We're excited to see what Elizabeth brings to the company in the future!

Elizabeth is also dancing in work by Sarah Feinberg and Elyssa Berg. Here she is talking about the two pieces she has in tomorrow's concert.

Nicole Harris: You have two pieces in this concert that you created as part of two different choreography programs this winter. What were some of the highlights of your experiences with each program?Elizabeth Powers: Many of the best parts of each program are the same! Both gave me as an emerging choreographer free space along with lots of freedom and little pressure to make something new. A highlight from OnStage Dance Company’s residency program was that I had the opportunity to bring together dancers who I new from different dance communities as well as meet other dancers from the OnStage community. A highlight from the Choreography Mentorship Program with Monkeyhouse was all of the opportunities for feedback and reflection on the work I was making. Additionally with this program I was given mentorship in all kinds of areas of the field including working with a lighting designer, finding/licensing music, costuming mentorship, and more.

Photo by Olivia Blaisdell

N: The piece you created for OnStage Dance Co's Residency Program was fairly significantly less improv based than the one you created for Monkeyhouse's Choreography Mentorship Program. Can you talk about the differences between those two processes?

EP: The main difference between the two processes was what I came in with. For OnStage, I began the first rehearsal by teaching a phrase. The first rehearsal with Monkeyhouse began with several improvisation prompts as well as dancers creating their own phrases from these prompts. With the OnStage piece, the improvisation tasks were mostly developed into set material. For this piece, I imagined very specific images while working to bring them to life. Comparatively, the Monkeyhouse piece was created by honing specific improvisation scores and combining them into a cohesive dance.

N: Will you be making any changes to the two pieces from their first performances?EP:Definitely! Every time I see my work I think of something new to add, alter, or take out. The main structure of each piece will stay the same but I definitely made several small edits to both. Additionally, since there are elements of improvisation between each piece, there is no question that the pieces will not be exactly the same as they were in their original form, which is what I love about dance :)

Photo by Sarah Friswell Cotton

N: What is a favorite rehearsal moment for each piece?EP: A favorite rehearsal moment for the OnStage piece was the moment when all of the pieces finally went together. There was a time in the process when we had so many bits of material that we had been playing with, but they didn’t seem to work together. Trying one combination that finally worked was a great moment. A favorite rehearsal movement for the Monkeyhouse piece would have to be the first time we played with creating the duet between Sam and Olivia. It was just so much fun to watch them explore their silly and playful movement that was fun and thought provoking to watch.

​As part of the piece that I am setting on Monkeyhouse for NACHMO Boston I have been working with improvisation within performance. Living in this world has given me the opportunity to watch how improvisation scores change as they are being done and how they can be edited from a choreographer’s perspective in order to facilitate the most interesting movement generation.

I love the concept of improvisation because it allows for the movement that is being performed to be unique and new to everyone. I believe that audience members respond in a way that is reflective of the performers experience. I have also found that when choreography is set and drilled in an effort to clean for a long period of time, it can become boring to the dancers performing it. Dancers often get so used to moving in a certain way that the movement can become comfortable or monotonous. As an observer and a choreographer, I am finding that allowing room for chance and change in every run of a dance has begun to invoke a feeling of exhilarating anticipation while simultaneously leveling the playing field, as no individual party knows exactly what will happen each time the piece is performed.

Possibly one of the unconscious reasons that I have been drawn to improvisation is that I like to see what people come up with, and particularly how many different ways one idea can be interpreted. I really admire individuality and uniqueness in people and I enjoy seeing work where the idiosyncrasies of each performer are valued. Especially as an emerging choreographer, I think that using strategies that showcase individual performers strengths, personalities, and backgrounds, allows me to uncover what it is that I like to see and put into my choreography. By incorporating improvisation scores into performance, I get to be excited and surprised with every run through and performance, which is a thrilling experience as a choreographer.

​Today's interview is with our own Choreography Mentee, Elizabeth Powers! Learn more about her and see the awesome movement she's been creating on Instagram!

To learn more about NACHMO Boston you can find them on Facebook and Instagram! You can also support this year's NACHMO Boston programming here!Want to be part of National Choreography Month? Take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallege. Every day we will be posting a new prompt on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Follow along on social media to get the prompts and see some incredible dances! ​Share your own videos (no previous choreographic experience required!) using the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge hashtag in order to be featured!

N: You are participating in NACHMO Boston as part of the Choreography Mentorship program here at Monkeyhouse. What most excites you about creating choreography?E: ​I think that the most exciting part of creating choreography for me is watching a piece tell me where it’s going. I tend to base what I do off of the dancers that I have and how they respond to various tasks and structures. Sometimes I start off with a concept and other times I start off with one specific movement but however it happens, whatever is presented at the end is rarely indicative of that original idea. I am always amazed by the transition that occurs throughout the process of creating a piece and love that I can count on the process to inform me about what’s supposed to happen next.

N: You have been working on how to include improvisation structures in your choreography. What is it about that idea that appeals to you?E: One of the things that I appreciate most about dance is its presence. Any movement is literally occurring the second that it is being done and then it is gone. Even in dances that are highly specific and choreographed with every detail in place, there is always a factor that will make it different each time it is performed. In college I was encouraged to allow different things to happen with each performance as a way to not get stuck in the choreography that we had been practicing for months. By incorporating improvisation structures into my piece I am looking to max out this concept. I am hoping that the improvisational elements will facilitate a feeling of exciting uncertainty within the dancers regarding what is coming next that it will read for audience members.

N: What are you most excited about for this year’s National Choreography Month?E: Honestly just having the opportunity to make a dance and move with people that I care about. I am super excited about the cast that I am working with and having the support and guidance of Monkeyhouse has made this process so positive. I love that NACHMO is in January because it gives us the opportunity to start off this new year by making and sharing art. I am also super excited to attend the NACHMO final performance and see what all of the other choreographers have been up to this month!

N: Can you talk about the dancers you’ll be working with? What are you looking forward to and what are the challenges of working with this particular group?E: The dancers that I am working with are connected to Monkeyhouse in various ways but most come from different dance backgrounds. What I am looking forward to and the challenges of working with this group are almost the same. Other than working with Karen and Nicole as either students or company members, there are not many past experiences that all dancers have in common. While this can be a challenge in figuring out how to explain certain tasks or improvisation structures, it also allows me as a choreographer to highlight the individual strengths of each dancer. Additionally, when dancers from different backgrounds come together and work on tasks, what comes out of them is often not at all what I anticipated which is really exciting to see from a choreographers perspective.

N: Who are some of your favorite choreographers? E: There are so many! Two of my favorite choreographers whose work I was fortunate enough to see live when I studied abroad in London are Akram Khan and Hofesh Shechter. I’m a big fan of Heidi Henderson and Doug Varone as well. I also greatly appreciate the classic work and specifically the methods of creating movement of Trisha Brown.

A conversation between the two choreographers for this years choreographic mentorship program; Elizabeth Powers and Elyssa Berg.

​EB: You just recently finished school at Roger Williams University this past May, what have you been up to since graduation?EP: I am currently living in Providence, RI and working as a teaching artist in a middle school where I work with teachers to integrate arts into the academic curriculum. I'm taking classes and dancing in various projects around the Boston and Providence areas. I'm also working on creating some new work that pushes me into a different mode of creating movement.

EB: So now that you have a chance to pursue new ideas what are you finding yourself most interested in exploring as a choreographer?EP: As a choreographer a lot of my interests come from thoughts. I am really interested in people and how they work. I think that dance and movement facilitate exploration of these sorts of topics. I am also interested in exploring the possibilities of improvisation. I like to create improvisation scores that involve challenges or problems that have to be solved by doing the improvisation. Personally I use this method as a way to get myself to create movement that is different from what I usually do. I find that improvisation allows dancers to constantly be pushing the limitations of movement without getting stuck in a pattern, or at least provides the option of editing a score to create an escape from the pattern. I am also interested in using improvisation within the structure of a final piece. I get sick of doing the same thing all the time and am interested in the ways that a piece can be different every time that it is performed while it is still the same piece.

EB: It sounds like you are trying to push yourself to constantly change and try new approaches and tools, where do you find most of your inspiration for these new ideas comes from?EP: A lot of my inspiration comes from watching dance. When I need to come up with an idea for a piece, going to see a good show always brings me into that mindset and gives me ideas to play with. I'm also inspired by relationships and observations throughout daily life. I find that the movement that is constantly occurring everyday is often as interesting as any movement that we classify as dance, when it's put in the appropriate context.

EB: You are about to begin the process of creating a piece for NACHMO, as you start this process and other processes what would you say is your biggest challenge in creating a new work?EP: My biggest challenge when creating work is probably choosing what to focus on. I often have a lot of completely random ideas and so choosing which ideas to focus on is a challenge. I like to let ideas develop and pull my work in a certain direction, but before I can do that, I have to choose which ideas to give that power to. Sometimes I'll let a piece go in one direction for a while before deciding that isn't where it is supposed to go, so being open to giving a piece multiple chances to identify itself is important to me.

EB: Do you have any plans for the near future? Are there any goals or things you would like to accomplish in the next five years or so?EP: Honestly the only thing that I know I still want to be doing in five years is dancing. I want to be creating and sharing work regularly. I want to work with populations who have varying abilities as well as share the power of movement with anyone who could benefit from it. I want to be moving in a different way than I am right now. There are so many different ways to move and in my 22 years of life I have just scratched the surface.

EB: As you have had a long relationship with Monkeyhouse what would you say is your favorite part about working with the company?EP: I love that I get to work with people who are so willing to try and to support. I can go into a musing with a weird idea or a hand gesture and come out with something really interesting. Also working with people like Karen and Nicole who have been teaching me dance since I was a kid is amazing because I know that they won't hesitate to push me out of my comfort zone but they will also help me make sense of things when they seem to be going nowhere. So, my favorite part of working with Monkeyhouse is being able to work with a community of dancers who will accept crazy ideas and make something out of anything that they are given.

We have been so lucky over the last seventeen years to have former students from Impulse Dance Center, Dover Sherborn High School, the Dancing Arts Center, Natick High School, Groton School, Endicott College and beyond who have returned to be part of Monkeyhouse in some way. They've been board members, funders, company choreographers, audience members and guest artists. They have participated in Musings and company class as well as been invaluable advisors to us in and out of the studio. We are forever grateful to each and every one of them!

This past summer we created a series of Musings at Impulse Dance Center to give the alumni an opportunity to dance at a more professional level and to play with choreographic ideas in a low stakes setting. (We'll be talking more about that particular program in a future blog post. Keep an eye out!) During that process we were inspired to create a new Choreography Mentorship for emerging choreographers. Many of our former students have gone on to complete dance programs at the college level and came home with inspiring new skills, ideas and goals. We want to help these emerging choreographers as they transition from an academic dance life to a professional one.

We are starting this program with two of our Impulse Dance Center alumni, Elizabeth Powers and Elyssa Berg (who you might also remember as being a choreographic intern during her senior year of high school and a guest artist at Monkeyhouse's Misplaced/Displaced concert). These two dynamic choreographers will continue to lead Musings for December and January as they refine a choreographic idea. During the month of January, they will each create a piece of choreography for NACHMO (National Choreography Month) using dancers from Monkeyhouse.

This is an exciting opportunity for emerging choreographers. They receive studio space for both Musings and rehearsal; mentoring in choreography, design and all the administrative work involved in producing a new work; the opportunity to set work on a company and a whole lot more. You will hear a whole lot about these two ladies and the work they are creating over the next three months. But first, here's a quick introduction:

photo by Paradise Photo

​Elizabeth Powers graduated from Roger Williams University in May 2017 with a BA in Dance and Performance Studies and a double major in Psychology. Elizabeth grew up dancing at Impulse Dance Center in Natick, MA where she studied a variety of dance styles before finding contemporary-modern and improvisation techniques to be her passion. Nicole Harris and Karen Krolak were two of Elizabeth’s teachers at Impulse who encouraged her to find her creative voice and push boundaries. They continue to do so today.

Throughout college, Elizabeth had the opportunity to study with and perform in works by Heather Ahern, Hilary Easton, Ori Flomin, Kellie Ann Lynch, Fritha Pengelley, and Christina Robson. She was graced with the mentorship of Michael Bolger, France Hunter, Cathy Nicoli, and Gary Shore. She was also able to spend a semester studying dance and performance in London, UK where she worked with choreographer Katie Lusby.

Elizabeth is currently working as a teaching artist in Providence, RI, where she works with middle school teachers to integrate the arts into their academic curriculum. She is also performing and choreographing for various events throughout the Boston and Providence areas. She is extremely excited to be exploring a new idea with Monkeyhouse.

Elyssa Berg began her dance training at Impulse Dance Center in Natick, Massachusetts. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Dance andChoreography. In 2016, she studied abroad with the University of South Florida’s Dance in Paris Semester Program, under the direction of Michael Foley. During her time at VCU, Elyssa performed in works by Scott Putman, Melanie Richards, Judy Steel, as well as guest artists; Doug Varone, Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange, and Dawn Bazemore. In 2015, she performed in the official music video for Victor by Prinze George, a finalist in the LA Music Video Festival.

Outside of VCU, Elyssa has studied at Bates Dance Festival’s Young Dancers Program as well as their Professional Training Program. Elyssa has been commissioned twice by Monkeyhouse to create work and has presented choreography in the Boston area as well as Richmond, Virginia.